Firearm silencers are well known in the art of weaponry, and a variety of constructions have been proposed for minimizing the noise associated with expanding gases at the firing of a weapon. One type of silencer construction can be found by reference to U.S. Pat. No. 1,111,202 to W. E. Westfall. Westfall proposes a casing accommodating a plurality of removable funnel-shaped baffle members arranged so that their smaller openings are directed toward the muzzle of the gun muzzle. Outwardly curving faces of the baffle members are purported to act as deflecting surfaces for the exhausting gases. An alternate form of baffle member in a silencer can be found by reference to U.S. Pat. No. 1,482,805 to H. P. Maxim. Maxim uses a similar series of baffle members faced along a cylindrical casing. However, the disc-like portion of each baffle member is constructed of sheet metal having its center hole deformed by offsetting the opposite edges so that the plane of the aperture is inclined to the axis of the casing. With this arrangement, upon firing the gun to which the silencer is attached, the combustion gases are deflected by the deformed portion of the disc-like member and are directed from one chamber to the succeeding one at an angle to the passage for the projectile.
In the Waiser U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,610, a series of conical-shaped baffle members are arranged in a manner similar to that described in connection with the Westfall patent. Waiser adds an additional dimension in causing the discharged gases to decrease their energy level by providing a plurality of small holes in a partition member, with the axes of the holes being at an angle with respect to the axis of the silencer. This causes the gases passing therethrough to be directed into the mainstream of gases passing through the main aperture in the center of the silencer device. According to Waiser, the discharged gases are thus separated into a mainstream and into many auxiliary streams with the axes of the auxiliary streams crossing with the axis of the mainstream, resulting in a dispersion of the discharged gases and a decrease of their energy. While the auxiliary streams of the Waiser device are directed into the mainstream of the discharged gases, some of them are angled to direct their discharged gases into the aperture of the downstream baffle member. Accordingly, the gases passing through the auxiliary apertures do not divert the gases away from the opening of the downstream baffle member, in spite of the fact that such auxiliary streams do intersect the axis of the mainstream. Moreover, even in those embodiments which do not direct the auxiliary streams into the opening of the succeeding baffle member, only the partition member is provided with such auxiliary apertures, and the series of baffle members of the Waiser device are devoid of any auxiliary apertures.
The prior art silencers comprise a tubular sleeve that slides over the body of the silencer that contains the series of baffles. The tubular sleeve is configured to enclose the baffles and the chambers between the baffles. In use, the gases that are discharged are dispersed within the silencer. At the same time, lead and carbon deposits are also dispersed within the silencer and, as a result, build up within the silencer shot after shot. After several uses, it generally becomes necessary to clean the lead and carbon build-up from the silencer. In order to clean the lead and carbon build-up in prior art silencers, the user must slide the tubular sleeve off of the body of the silencer and to access the deposits. However, when the silencer becomes overly full with lead and carbon build-up, the build-up can get heavily packed therebetween the body of the silencer and the tubular sleeve and may put enough pressure thereon to prevent the tubular sleeve from being separated from the body of the silencer.